Title: Wild Reverence
Author: Rebecca Ross
Publisher: St. Martin’s Publishing Group
Publication Date: September 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781250373359
Synopsis:
Born in the firelit domain of the under realm, Matilda is the youngest goddess of her clan, blessed with humble messenger magic. She may be known to carry words and letters through the realms, but she holds a secret she must hide from even her dearest of allies to ensure her survival. And to complicate matters . . . there is a mortal boy who dreams of her, despite the fact they have never met in the waking world.
Ten years ago, Vincent of Beckett wrote to Matilda on the darkest night of his life—begging the goddess he befriended in dreams to help him. When his request went unanswered, Vincent moved on, becoming the hardened, irreverent lord of the river who has long forgotten Matilda. That is, until she comes tumbling into his bedroom window with a letter for him.
As Fate would have it, Matilda and Vincent were destined to find each other beyond dreams. There may be a chance for Matilda to rewrite the blood-soaked ways of the gods, but at immense sacrifice. She will have to face something she fears even more than losing her magic: to be vulnerable, and to allow herself to finally be loved.
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Rebecca Ross is a force to be reckoned with. As with her Divine Rivals duology, Wild Reverence is beautiful, ethereal, and heart-stoppingly diving. This story of a goddess who, against all that stands against her, falls in love with a mortal. Matilda is meant to be a lowly goddess—of the underworld with little power to her name. But what she lacks in power, she makes up for in devotion, dedication, and heart. She burns brightly with a fire that ignites her spirit and sparks her movement between the realms. A messenger of the gods, her story follows her through the worlds so that we, the readers, adventure through the realms at her side, from the under realm, to the mortal world, and skyward to the realm of the gods.
The world Ross constructs is masterful and vast. Her writing is so vivid, the setting becomes a character in itself, bringing with it, its own spirit that echoes the feeling of the beings that inhabit it. The under realm is a ruthless maze below the earth, dark, sinister, and cutthroat. There is no secret of the power the gods desire and the ruthlessness they’ll embrace to possess it. In the skyward realm, the gods are possibly even more violent, but they hold themselves above all others, shrouding themselves behind parties, light, and music. And in between are the mortals, whose lives are short and insignificant in comparison to the gods. They are fragile and temporary. Their world is ruled by survival, betrayal, grit, and determination.
Matilda’s life is tethered to a boy in the mortal realm. Vincent sees her and knows her in a way that no one else can understand, even though they have only ever met in dreams. Vincent is unlike the other mortals, quiet, humble, strong of spirit and of mind. He seems to be the only man who does not seek to possess the power of the gods, and Matilda in particular. He knows who she is at her very core, loving her for the very essence of her being, and wanting nothing more than to lift her up and protect her with everything he is. In a violent world of war and death, it’s every person—and every god—for themselves.
Ross, yet again, displays her prowess with a pen, creating a story that will sweep you away and devastate you with its beauty and turmoil. Her novels are a delight to read, and ones I look forward to returning to again and again.
Happy reading!
Worn Pages and Ink 